THE PROPOSED NATIONAL OFFICE ARE BEING DEVELOPED IN THE

INTERAGENCY COMMUNITY.

THE SUBCOMMITTEE HAS REQUESTED THAT I COMMENT ON THE VALUE OF CONDUCTING THREAT AND RISK ASSESSMENTS FOR CITIES OR

DESIGNATED GEOGRAPHIC AREAS PRIOR TO PROVIDING TRAINING AND
EQUIPMENT LOANS.

THE FBI'S RESPONSE LETTER OF MARCH 4, 1998 TO MR. DAVIS
PROVIDES OUR POSITION ON THE THREAT AND RISK ASSESSMENT ISSUE. IN
BRIEF, THREAT AND RISK ASSESSMENTS WILL ADD VALUE TO THE OVERALL
DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS EFFORT. WE THINK THAT A PILOT PROJECT TO
TEST THE THREAT AND RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESSES SHOULD BE DONE.
IN THAT REGARD, MY STAFF AND I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH A
PRIVATE CORPORATION RECOMMENDED BY GAO, AND ARE EVALUATING THE
SPECIFIC THREAT AND RISK MODEL UTILIZED BY THAT COMPANY.

IN THE NEAR FUTURE WE WILL ATTEMPT TO ADAPT AND TEST THIS MODEL FOR USE IN CITIES AND OTHER LOCAL AREAS. ALSO, IN ASSOCIATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES, WE INTEND TO EXPLORE EXISTING THREAT AND RISK METHODOLOGIES THAT MAY BE HELPFUL IN BETTER DETERMINING THE TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS OF OUR FIRST RESPONDER COMMUNITY ACROSS THE

NATION.

THE MISSION OF THE FBI'S COUNTERTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS

PROGRAM IS TO SUPPORT THE U.S. COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORT BY INCREASING THE CAPACITY OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL CRISIS AND CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT AGENCIES TO RESPOND TO ANY THREATS AND/OR ACTS OF TERRORISM WITHIN THE UNITED STATES. THE FBI IS CONFIDENT THAT THROUGH THE NDPO, IT CAN SUPPORT THIS MISSION.

Mr. SOUDER. Thank you.

Mr. Dalich.

Mr. DALICH. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Barrett, my name is Mike Dalich, and I serve as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. On behalf of the Attorney General and OJP Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson, it's my pleasure to discuss OJP's effort as part of the broader administration initiative to assist State and local jurisdictions in enhancing their capabilities to respond to incidents of domestic terrorism.

As the recent bombings at the embassies in Africa illustrate, acts of terrorism are very much a part of today's world. And as past events in the United States prove, the World Trade Center, Oklahoma City, and others prove these incidents and similar acts can happen here.

The Department of Justice has reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Defense, FEMA, and the National Security Council to establish the Department of Justice with the FBI as the lead agency for U.S. domestic preparedness for weapons of mass destruction terrorism. The Department of Justice would assume overall responsibility for the formulation and execution of programs and activities, to prepare the United States for incidents of terrorism, and would establish the National Domestic Preparedness Office and the FBI as the coordinating structure for these programs and activities.

The Office of Justice Programs will work closely with the NDPO to incorporate the policy and planning decisions of the new office and in our equipment, grant, and training programs. While the details about the structure and composition of the NDPO are still being developed, we will work closely with all agencies involved in supporting the counterterrorism preparedness of States and cities. We believe that this action will help resolve many of the problems of overlap and lack of coordination identified in the GAO reports. OJP will provide training and equipment support to help build this critical capacity, to enable the seamless integration of the State and Federal assets, if ever needed. OJP's efforts, coordinated with the Federal interagency community, can provide the targeted threat-specific training, equipment, exercises, and technical assistance necessary to build the capacity of the Nation's State and local emergency responders.

The mission of OJP's Office of State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support is to assist State and local jurisdictions and enhance their capabilities to respond to incidents of domestic terrorism. Although the domestic preparedness is a relatively new focus for OJP, we have a 30-year history of working with State and local law enforcement and other officials. OJP will build on successful partnership with three specific initiatives.

First, OJP, again as part of the coordinated DOJ and interagency effort, is providing financial assistance to enable State and local jurisdictions to buy much-needed equipment. With funds appropriated for this purpose by Congress last year, we recently, for example, made $12 million available to 41 local jurisdictions to assist in the purchasing of personal protection, decontamination, detection, and other equipment to assist first responders.

Second, OJP is offering, again, in concert with a broader initiative, a wide spectrum of training to ensure that State and local emergency response personnel and public officials have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to enable them to respond well if such incidents occurred. DOD will continue to finance the Nunn-Lugar training through year 2000, after which the program will shift to the Department of Justice; that's in fiscal year 2001.

In June, we opened the Center for Domestic Preparedness at Fort McClellan, AL to train State and local emergency responders. We've already trained over 450 first responders in basic awareness, incident command, and incident management.

Third, OJP is offering technical assistance to help State and local communities in sharing the information needed to make the critical decisions domestic preparedness requires. We've written to several universities and research facilities to develop the capacity, and recently held highly successful listening sessions with State and local first responders to find out how the Federal Government can best assist them in responding to domestic terrorism.

The Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, Dr. Hamre, and FEMA Director James Lee Witt were active participants in these sessions, demonstrating their clear personal commitment to this issue and hearing directly concerns and needs from over 200 first responders.

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, for the opportunity to be here today. I ask that my statement be incorporated.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Dalich follows:]

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

Good afternoon. My name is Michael J. Dalich, and I serve as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). In my capacity, I have played an integral role in the development of OJP's newest office -- the Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support -- and I continue to oversee this office's efforts and play a lead role in representing OJP's interests within the Department of Justice's broader counterterrorism and domestic preparedness initiatives. For much of this fiscal year,

considerable work has gone on to establish this new office, which officially became a part of OJP on August 21, 1998.

On behalf of the Attorney General, and Assistant Attorney General for OJP Laurie Robinson, it is my pleasure to be with you today to discuss OJP's efforts to assist state and local jurisdictions to enhance their capabilities to respond to incidents of domestic terrorism.

As the recent bombings at the embassies in Africa illustrate, acts of terrorism are very much a part of today's world. And, as past events in the United States illustrate -- the World Trade Center, Oklahoma City and others -- these and similar acts can happen here. We all know too well that the threat of a terrorist attack on America's communities is a real one.

And what we also know is that if terrorist attacks occur in American communities, it will be the ability of those communities to respond well that's going to be critical to protecting lives and property and ensuring public safety. And if such incidents occur, it will be state and local law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service personnel, and state and local officials who will be first on the scene and bear the initial, if not most of the burden and responsibility.